Wish List

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Total number of titles: 111

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Director: Robert Altman
Starring: Shelley Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Janice Rule, Robert Fortier, Ruth Nelson
Genre: Drama
Studio: Criterion Rated: PG
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: In a dusty, under-populated California resort town, Pinky Rose (Sissy Spacek), a naive and impressionable Southern waif begins her life as a nursing home attendant. There, Pinky finds her role model in fellow nurse "Thoroughly Modern" Millie Lammoreaux (Shelley Duvall), a misguided would-be sophisticate and hopeless devotee of Cosmopolitan and Woman's Day magazines. When Millie accepts Pinky into her home at the Purple Sage singles' complex, Pinky's hero-worship evolves into something far stranger and more sinister than either could have anticipated. Featuring brilliant performances from Spacek and Duvall, Robert Altman's dreamlike masterpiece, 3 Women, careens from the humorous to the chilling to the surreal, resulting in one of the most unusual and compelling films of the 1970s.

4 by Agnès Varda

Director: Agnes Varda
Starring:
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Collection Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): French ()
Summary: Agnès Varda used the skills she honed early in her career as a photographer to create some of the most nuanced, thought-provoking films of the past fifty years. She is widely believed to have presaged the French new wave with her first film, La Pointe Courte, long before creating one of the movement s benchmarks, Cléo from 5 to 7. Later, with Le bonheur and Vagabond, Varda further shook up art-house audiences, challenging bourgeois codes with her inscrutable characters and effortlessly beautiful compositions and editing. Now working largely as a documentarian, Varda remains one of the essential cinematic poets of our time and a true visionary. DIRECTOR-APPROVED SPECIAL EDITION FOUR-DISC SET FEATURES:

New restored digital transfers, supervised and approved by director Agnès Varda
Three short films by Varda: L Opéra Mouffe (1958), Du côté de la côte (1958), and Les fiancés du Pont Macdonald (1961)
On La Pointe Courte: new video interview with Varda
On Cléo from 5 to 7: a 2005 documentary on the making of the film; a short film from 2005 in which Varda retraces Cléo s steps through Paris; Varda speaking with Madonna about the film in 1993
On Le bonheur: new interviews with the three actors from the film; a 2006 discussion with four scholars about the film; footage of Varda on-set; 1998 interview with Varda; 2003 interviews on the concept of happiness
On Vagabond: a 2003 documentary on the making of the film; a 2003 interview with composer Joanna Bruzdowicz; a 1986 radio interview with writer Nathalie Sarraute; a 2003 interview with actress Marthe Jarnias
Theatrical trailers
New and improved English subtitle translations
PLUS: New essays by Chris Darke, Adrian Martin, Amy Taubin, and Ginette Vincendeau; plus, a foreword on each film by Varda herself

10 Questions for the Dalai Lama

Director:
Starring: The Dalai Lama
Genre: Documentary
Studio: MONTEREY VIDEO Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: How do you reconcile a commitment to non-violence when faced with violence? Why do the poor often seem happier than the rich? Must a society lose its traditions in order to move into the future? These are some of the questions posed to His Holiness the Dalai Lama by filmmaker and explorer Rick Ray. Ray examines some of the fundamental questions of our time by weaving together observations from his own journeys throughout India and the Middle East, and the wisdom of an extraordinary spiritual leader. This is his story, as told and filmed by Rick Ray during a private visit to his monastery in Dharamsala, India over the course of several months. Also included is rare historical footage as well as footage supplied by individuals who at great personal risk, filmed with hidden cameras within Tibet. Part biography, part philosophy, part adventure and part politics, "10 Questions for The Dalai Lama" conveys more than history and more than answers - it opens a window into the heart of an inspiring man. If you had only one hour, what would you ask?

The 4400 - The Complete Fourth Season

Director: Morgan Beggs, Milan Cheylov, John Behring
Starring:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Studio: Paramount Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Over the last century thousands of people have gone missing. Suddenly and inexplicably 4400 missing people are returned all at once exactly as they were on the day they vanished. Unclear what this world-altering event means the government investigates the 4400 to piece together where they've been and why they've been returned. It quickly becomes apparent that their presence will change the human race in ways no one could have foreseen.System Requirements:Running Time: 561 minutesFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: TELEVISION/SERIES & SEQUELS Rating: NR UPC: 097368525047 Manufacturer No: 852504

Antonia's Line

Director: Marleen Gorris
Starring: Willeke van Ammelrooy, Els Dottermans, Dora van der Groen, Veerle van Overloop, Esther Vriesendorp
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: First Look Pictures Rated: R
Language (Country): Dutch ()
Summary: To a small Dutch town filled with characters known by such names as Crooked Finger, Loony Lips, and the Mad Madonna, Antonia returns with her daughter Danielle after 20 years away. Covering the next 40 years, "Antonia's Line" looks at the matriarch and her offspring, stretching out to her great-granddaughter, Sarah. A whimsical story with fairy-tale conventions, this movie deals with the cyclical nature of time as well as the strength of women. While this is not just a "woman's movie," men "are" regulated to the background in a story that tells of women breaking free of traditional roles. Surprisingly, this movie achieves a light-hearted tone while tackling serious subjects: small-town prejudices, rape, and suicide. Yet the drama's comedic heart shines through as Antonia collects a rather odd assortment of people, outsiders who become part of her extended family. Winner of the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film, "Antonia's Line" is moving and beautiful, imparting a sense of hope and joy to the viewer. "--Jenny Brown"

Antonio Gaudi - Criterion Collection

Director: Hiroshi Teshigahara
Starring:
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Collection Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): Japanese, Spanish ()
Summary: Catalan architect Antonio Gaudí (1852 1926) designed some of the world s most astonishing buildings, interiors, and parks; Japanese director Hiroshi Teshigahara constructed some of the most aesthetically audacious films of the second half of the twentieth century. Here, their artistry melds in a unique, enthralling cinematic experience. Less a documentary than a visual poem, Teshigahara s ANTONIO GAUDI takes viewers on a tour of Gaudí s truly spectacular architecture, including his massive still-unfinished masterpiece, the Sagrada Familia cathedral, in Barcelona. With camerawork as bold and sensual as the curves on his subject s organic surfaces, Teshigahara immortalizes Gaudí on film.

Special Features
* - New, restored high-definition digital transfer
* - New video interview with architect Arata Isozaki
* - Gaudí, Catalunya 1959, a short film by Hiroshi Teshigahara featuring footage from his first trip to Spain
* - Monitor: Antonio Gaudí (1961), a short film essay by director Ken Russell
* - VITA, a short film by Teshigahara on the sculpture work of his father, Sofu Teshigahara
* - Original theatrical trailer
* - New and improved English subtitle translation
* - PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by art historian Dore Ashton, and reprinted writings by Hiroshi and Sofu

Are You Being Served? The Complete Collection

Director: John Kilby, Bob Spiers, David Croft, Martin Shardlow, Gordon Elsbury
Starring: John Inman, Taryn Kay, Belinda Lee (II)
Genre: Comedy
Studio: BBC Warner Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: The definitive British sitcom is almost certainly "Are You Being Served?", which depicts the squabbles, misadventures, and flirtations of the staff of Grace Brothers department store. The show was originally conceived as a vehicle for an irreverent junior salesman named Mr. Lucas (Trevor Bannister), but it soon became clear that mocking a social hierarchy isn't half as funny as taking it all too seriously. The show really revolves around Mrs. Slocombe (Mollie Sugden), whose wildly changing hair color and mercurial moods terrorize the rest of the staff, and cheerful but sly Mr. Humphries (the effervescent John Inman), one of the first gay characters on television treated with dignity--or at least no more indignity than anyone else (the show makes some noise about not being sure if Mr. Humphries is gay or not, but no one in the audience will have any question). But the rest of the cast is superb as well: Frank Thornton as the elegant but leering floorwalker Capt. Peacock, Wendy Richard as the sexy, impish Miss Brahms, Arthur Brough as cantankerous Mr. Grainger (who, sadly, died after the fifth season; other characters took his position on the sales staff, but never quite matched up), and Nicholas Smith as the self-serving but incompetent manager Mr. Rumbold form a comic ensemble that has rarely been equaled.
These characters, written with affection and played with superb comic dash, endlessly jockey for status and salary while simultaneously creating an alternative family (the core structure for any sitcom on either side of the Atlantic). "Are You Being Served?" deserves its devoted fan base, who will revel in this comprehensive 14-DVD box set (which includes specials about Inman, Sugden, and Richard, as well as other extras). "--Bret Fetzer"

The Avengers - The Complete Emma Peel Megaset

Director:
Starring: Diana Rigg, Patrick MacNee
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: A&E Home Video Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Along with "Monty Python's Flying Circus", "The Avengers" practically defined British cult television, and it was never better than during the three years that Diana Rigg's Emma Peel character tossed out her witty barbs and karate kicks. The supercool 2006 edition of "The Complete Emma Peel Megaset" encompasses all 51 episodes from 1965-66 (in black and white) and 1967 (in color) plus a new bonus disc, all in 17 space-saving Thinpaks. Paired with Patrick Macnee as the dapper, umbrella-wielding John Steed, Rigg's Mrs. Peel turned heads with her sexy outfits, then broke skulls of the various would-be world-dominating bad guys who crossed her path. Like the mixed crime-fighting teams who came after them in shows like "Moonlighting" and "The X-Files", Steed and Mrs. Peel had a constant platonic playfulness. In one episode when Mrs. Peel is working undercover at a department store, Steed drops in for a visit, remarking, "They told me 'Mrs. Peel is in Ladies Underwear.' I rattled up the stairs three at a time." However, unlike their spiritual successors, Steed and Mrs. Peel never jumped the shark; instead she bid a fond farewell as she passed the torch to Steed's next partner, Tara King (Linda Thorson), just as she had been passed the torch from Honor Blackman. (Blackman left her Kathy Gale character to go on to fame as Pussy Galore in "Goldfinger"--in one episode, Steed receives a postcard from Gale sent from Fort Knox.) But although Macnee had some enjoyable moments with other partners throughout the series' run, it's the Emma Peel years that fans remember most fondly, not only for the great chemistry between the lead actors, but the superb writing and distinctly British, and distinctly '60s, quirky charm.
The 216-minute bonus disc is the new addition to the 2006 set. Completists will appreciate the "lost" episodes from the first season. Of the very first episode, "Hot Snow," however, only the first 15 minutes were recovered. "Girl on the Trapeze" features a vanilla-esque Ian Hendry as Dr. David Keel investigating the death of a circus performer, while "The Frighteners" perks things up considerably with the addition of Macnee's Steed character, who displays a bit of the comedic twinkle that would be the cornerstone of the series through its entire run. All in all, the episodes aren't nearly as watchable as the peak years of the series. Of greater interest to fans is "Avenging the Avengers," a 1992 documentary recapping the series through clips and interviews with Macnee, crew members, and actresses Honor Blackman (Cathy Gale, 1962-64) and Linda Thorson (Tara King, 1968-69). Diana Rigg appears briefly in older interview footage. The documentary lasts 25 minutes, and an additional nine minutes of interviews are added to the end. There's also a three-minute promotional film that Macnee and Rigg made to promote the series' switch from black and white to color, an alternate opening sequence, and a 1977 episode in which Mrs. Peel makes a cameo appearance. The bonus disc is also available separately for those who already have the 2001 Megaset and don't want to upgrade just for the sake of saving shelf space. "--David Horiuchi"

The Bank Job

Director:
Starring: Jason Statham, Stephen Campbell Moore, Daniel T. Mays, James Faulkner, Saffron Burrows
Genre: Drama
Studio: Lionsgate Home Entertainment Rated: R
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: A cheerful, energetic, and completely entertaining movie, "The Bank Job" follows some small-time hoods who think they've lucked into a big-time opportunity when they learn a bank's security system will be temporarily suspended--little suspecting that they're being manipulated by government agents for their own ends. The result is that the movie doubles its pleasures: While the robbery itself has the usual suspense of a heist film, when the robbery is over the hoods find themselves being hunted by the police, the government, and brutal criminal kingpins who were storing dangerous information in a safety deposit box. "The Bank Job" won't win any awards, but it's enormously fun. Director Roger Donaldson ("No Way Out", "Species") propels the action along with vigor, editing zippily with perfect clarity among multiple storylines and various colorful characters. Jason Statham ("Snatch", "The Transporter"), as the leader of the bank robbers, successfully steps away from his usual bone-crunching roles to a more human presence. The rest of the cast--including Saffron Burrows ("Deep Blue Sea"), Keeley Hawes ("Tipping the Velvet"), David Suchet ("Poirot"), and many faces familiar from British film and television--give their characters the right degree of personality and flavor without getting fussy or detracting from the headlong rush of the story. A little sex, a lot of action, a sly sense of humor, and a twisty plot; if more movies had these basic pleasures, the world would be a happier place. "--Bret Fetzer"

The Battle of Algiers - Criterion Collection

Director: Gillo Pontecorvo
Starring: Brahim Hadjadj, Jean Martin, Yacef Saadi, Samia Kerbash, Ugo Paletti
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Rated: NR
Language (Country): French, Arabic ()
Summary: Director Gillo Pontecorvo's 1966 movie "The Battle of Algiers" concerns the violent struggle in the late 1950s for Algerian independence from France, where the film was banned on its release for fear of creating civil disturbances. Certainly, the heady, insurrectionary mood of the film, enhanced by a relentlessly pulsating Ennio Morricone soundtrack, makes for an emotionally high temperature throughout. Decades later, the advent of the "war against terror" has only intensified the film's relevance.
Shot in a gripping, quasi-documentary style, "The Battle of Algiers" uses a cast of untrained actors coupled with a stern voiceover. Initially, the film focuses on the conversion of young hoodlum Ali La Pointe (Brahim Haggiag) to F.L.N. (the Algerian Liberation Front). However, as a sequence of outrages and violent counter-terrorist measures ensue, it becomes clear that, as in Eisenstein's "October", it is the Revolution itself that is the true star of the film.
Pontecorvo balances cinematic tension with grimly acute political insight. He also manages an evenhandedness in depicting the adversaries. He doesn't flinch from demonstrating the civilian consequences of the F.L.N.'s bombings, while Colonel Mathieu, the French office brought in to quell the nationalists, is played by Jean Martin as a determined, shrewd, and, in his own way, honorable man. However, the closing scenes of the movie--a welter of smoke, teeming street demonstrations, and the pealing white noise of ululations--leaves the viewer both intellectually and emotionally convinced of the rightfulness of the liberation struggle. This is surely among a handful of the finest movies ever made. "--David Stubbs"

Battlestar Galactica - Razor

Director:
Starring: Edward James Olmos
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Studio: Universal Studios Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: "Battlestar Galactica: Razor" was an oasis for "BSG" fans--when the double-length episode aired in November 2007, it was the only new material broadcast during the 12-month gap between seasons 3 and 4. But although it sets up some events in season 4, chronologically Razor is a prequel taking place within season 2, when "Galactica" had unexpectedly met up with a fellow Battlestar, "Pegasus". The central character is new, Kendra Shaw (Stephanie Jacobsen), who becomes the XO after Lee Adama (Jamie Bamber) takes command of the "Pegasus". Shaw's promotion is controversial among Starbuck (Katee Sackhoff) and others because Shaw learned the trade under the previous commander of the "Pegasus", Admiral Cain (Michelle Forbes), who lived by her own wartime rules. The central conflict in "Razor" involves the "Pegasus" trying to rescue a Raptor crew from the Cylons. During the mission Shaw flashes back to 10 months earlier, and her experiences in the immediate aftermath of the Cylons' wipeout of Caprica influence how she handles this mission and its implications of a new Cylon-human hybrid. "Razor" is a riveting adventure, full of the top writing, great acting, and dark end-of-humanity vision that makes "Battlestar Galactica" the best show on television (that is, when it's actually on). Fans will also enjoy the appearance of old-school Cylons, and the revelation that Gaius is not the only one who fell for the wiles of Number 6 (Tricia Helfer).

The unrated and extended DVD runs 103 minutes, about 16 minutes longer than the Sci-Fi Channel broadcast. There's a brief bit of extra gore from Admiral Cain, and young William "Husker" Adama's (Nico Cortez, nicely channeling Edward James Olmos) mission in the last days of the first Cylon war is now 10 minutes instead of 5, including a spectacular aerial battle. In another new sequence, at the moment when Cain tells Shaw "Sometimes we have to leave people behind so that we can go on," there's a flashback to Cain's experiences in the first Cylon war. Among the bonus features is the complete 19-minute minisode version of Husker's Cylon encounter (previously viewable on Sci-Fi Channel's website) and two deleted scenes. Featurettes include "The Look of "Battlestar Galactica"" and "My Favorite Episode So Far" ("33" gets a lot of mentions from the cast and crew), and there are a trailer and 2.5-minute "sneak peek" at season 4 (mostly interviewing people who don't know what's going to happen, though Tricia Helfer mentions a new version of herself). In a commentary track for the extended edition, executive producer Ronald D. Moore and writer Michael Taylor discuss how the episode came together (they refer to "Razor" as episodes as 1-2 of season 4) amid some serious restructuring and bits of trivia, such as how they cast Stephanie Jacobsen in the pivotal role even though she had never watched the show. --"David Horiuchi"

The Best of Youth

Director: Marco Tullio Giordana
Starring: Luigi Lo Cascio, Alessio Boni, Adriana Asti, Sonia Bergamasco, Fabrizio Gifuni
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Miramax Rated: R
Language (Country): Italian ()
Summary: 368 minutes of Italian TV miniseries--yes, that is indeed six hours' worth--comes unspooling in "The Best of Youth", a stirring and beautiful experience. The film needs its running time to immerse us in the world of the Carati family from 1966 to near the present day. Two brothers are the primary focus: Nicola (Luigi Lo Cascio), a responsible medical student, and Matteo (Alessio Boni), a troubled soldier. After a youthful road trip, their paths diverge, but each is carried along by the changing, sometimes violent, political weather of Italy in the 1970s and '80s. Life issues surge and ebb, with the increasing sense that Matteo is a lost soul, beyond even the help of the luminous woman (unforgettable Maya Sansa) who comes into his life.
Truth be told, "The Best of Youth" has some of the limitations of made-for-TV fare, from the simplicity of its themes to its cheap-looking makeup. (Those beards are not convincing.) But by the time you've spent a couple of hours with these characters, you're deeply invested in their joys and sorrows. At that point the measured pace begins to feel like the rhythm of life, and the people onscreen a mirror of ourselves. It's probably true that the cultural references and specific historic events will have more resonance for Italians than other viewers, but everything translates. Director Marco Tullo Giordana maintains the tone by allowing details to accumulate, and the location shooting, including a stint at the cinematically rich island of Stromboli, is consistently rich (his sampling of the music from "Jules and Jim" feels like a shortcut somehow, but who could argue that the music isn't perfectly in key with the melancholy mood?). The final act delivers an emotional coup de grace that has been thoroughly earned. And you'll feel like you earned it, too, having spent six hours with this moving film. "--Robert Horton"

Bicycle Thieves

Director: Vittorio De Sica
Starring: Lamberto Maggiorani, Enzo Staiola, Lianella Carell, Gino Saltamerenda, Vittorio Antonucci
Genre: Drama
Studio: Criterion Rated: NR
Language (Country): Italian ()
Summary: Hailed around the world as one of the greatest movies ever made, Vittorio De Sica's Academy Award-winning Bicycle Thieves defined an era in cinema. In postwar, poverty-stricken Rome, a man, hoping to support his desperate family with a new job, loses his bicycle and main means of transportation for work. With his wide-eyed young son in tow, he sets off to track down the thief. Simple in construction and dazzlingly rich in human insight, Bicycle Thieves embodied all the greatest strengths of the neorealist film movement in Italy: emotional clarity, social righteousness, and brutal honesty.

Billy Wilder DVD Collection

Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: William Holden, Don Taylor, Otto Preminger, Robert Strauss, Harvey Lembeck
Genre: Drama
Studio: Paramount Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): English, French ()
Summary: This boxed set shows the many moods of director Billy Wilder, from luxurious cynicism to spiky romance. He's teamed up for all three pictures with William Holden, and the two are perfectly tuned to each other's sardonic intelligence. Actually, Holden was a last-minute replacement in "Sunset Boulevard", when Montgomery Clift abruptly backed out of the project. Holden plays a hard-luck screenwriter who takes refuge in the home of a deluded silent-movie star (played by Gloria Swanson); we know this because his corpse is telling us the story. The 1950 film is one of the great decayed mansions of Hollywood cinema, a fully imagined look at the souring of the American Dream. And, of course, a poison-pen letter to the movie business--Wilder took pleasure in biting the hand that fed him.
"Stalag 17" (1953) won the Best Actor Oscar® for Holden, although it's a less complex piece of work than "Sunset Boulevard". It is, however, thoroughly entertaining, with a seamless blend of suspense (who in the POW camp is betraying secrets to the Germans?) and raucous comedy. Sixties-TV fans will quickly spot the similarity with the Bob Crane sitcom "Hogan's Heroes". Otto Preminger, himself a director, creates a suave piece of villainy as the German camp commandant. In "Sabrina" (1954), Holden is a blond, fatuous younger brother to staid businessman Humphrey Bogart--but they both do supporting work to Audrey Hepburn. This is one of her great vehicles, and she inspires Wilder to show more of his romantic side. As the chauffeur's daughter who dreams of mingling with the beautiful people, Hepburn shines in the lush glow of moonlight and "Isn't it Romantic?" and the movie finds a zone of pure pleasure. "--Robert Horton"

The Billy Wilder DVD Collection

Director: Billy Wilder
Starring: Jack Lemmon, Shirley MacLaine, Fred MacMurray, Ray Walston, Jack Kruschen
Genre: Comedy
Studio: MGM (Video & DVD) Rated: R
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Even if "nobody's perfect," Billy Wilder sometimes came close. This DVD box presents a strong cross-section of films by one of Hollywood's greatest directors, and although his early Paramount years are not covered (they're available in a different set), the box does include a couple of Wilder's woefully underappreciated autumnal gems. Chronologically speaking, 1957's "Witness for the Prosecution" is the earliest film in the set, a crackerjack courtroom drama derived from Agatha Christie. It gives especially tasty roles to Charles Laughton and Marlene Dietrich. With "Some Like It Hot", Wilder merely created the film widely considered the best comedy of the sound era, with Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon impersonating female musicians in the Roaring Twenties. Marilyn Monroe is the songbird tired of getting the fuzzy end of the lollipop. Wilder took home three Oscars® for "The Apartment", his exquisitely bittersweet look at an organization man (Lemmon) who loans out his flat for his boss's liaisons.
"One, Two, Three" is a breathless Cold War comedy (and a time capsule of its era) with James Cagney as a Coca-Cola executive in Berlin. "Irma La Douce" teams Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine in a racy Parisian love story that became a box-office smash. With "Kiss Me, Stupid", Wilder suffered a rare flop, although the once-scandalous sex comedy looks better and sharper as it ages. "The Fortune Cookie", which nabbed an Oscar for Walter Matthau, is one of Wilder's most cynical tales, but the last two films in the set represent Wilder's late-career romantic flowering. "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes" arranges slapstick around the melancholy, misogynistic figure of Holmes, who might just be a directorial self-portrait. "Avanti!" is a delightful, leisurely romance about a businessman (Lemmon again) who loosens up while in Italy settling his late father's business. It's a lovely end note for a snappy, often acerbic collection. "--Robert Horton"

Blade Runner

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Harrison Ford
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Studio: Warner Home Video Rated: R
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Visually spectacular, intensely action-packed and powerfully prophetic since its debut, Blade Runner returns in Ridley Scott's definitive Final Cut, including extended scenes and never-before-seen special effects. In a signature role as 21st-century detective Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford brings his masculine-yet-vulnerable presence to this stylish noir thriller. In a future of high-tech possibility soured by urban and social decay, Deckard hunts for fugitive, murderous replicants - and is drawn to a mystery woman whose secrets may undermine his soul.

Blade Runner - The Final Cut

Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Harrison Ford
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Studio: Warner Home Video Rated: R
Language (Country): English, German, Japanese ()
Summary: Visually spectacular, intensely action-packed and powerfully prophetic since its debut, Blade Runner returns in Ridley Scott's definitive Final Cut, including extended scenes and never-before-seen special effects. In a signature role as 21st-century detective Rick Deckard, Harrison Ford brings his masculine-yet-vulnerable presence to this stylish noir thriller. In a future of high-tech possibility soured by urban and social decay, Deckard hunts for fugitive, muderous replicants - and is drawn to a mystery woman whose secrets may undermine his soul. This incredible 2-Disc Set features the definitive Final Cut of Ridley Scott's legendary Sci-Fi classic and the in-depth feature length documentary "Dangerous Days" and features all new 5.1 Audio.

The Blue Planet - Seas of Life Collector's Set

Director: Alastair Fothergill
Starring:
Genre: Documentary
Studio: BBC Video Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Extraordinary footage and eloquent narration by David Attenborough highlight the BBC's remarkable wildlife series "The Blue Planet: Seas of Life". "Ocean World" begins with astonishing views of a gigantic blue whale--the elusive Holy Grail of undersea photography--and the marvels continue to demonstrate the power, diversity, and profound ecological influence of Earth's oceans. "Frozen Seas" examines whales, walruses, penguins, and other creatures under the extreme conditions of the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. The next two episodes are even better. "Open Ocean" travels thousands of miles into the vast "liquid desert," where currents determine how the ocean's diverse life forms will assume their places in the food chain. More amazing, "The Deep" descends with a state-of-the-art submersible to the ocean's abyssal plain and beyond, filming such bizarre creatures as the fangtooth, bioluminescent jellies, transparent squid, the giant-mouthed gulper eel, and the never-before-seen hairy angler fish.
"Seasonal Seas" focuses on the explosion of life that accompanies every annual blooming of plankton, numbering in the countless billions and captured here with brilliant microphotography. In "Coral Seas," miles-long reefs of living coral are explored, from deep within (requiring brief computer animation) to the surrounding environs, where you'll see white-tipped sharks in a feeding frenzy while beautiful harlequin shrimp wrestle with a starfish. "Tidal Seas" explores the myriad life forms that thrive when lunar gravity pulls the oceans offshore. "Coasts" is easily the most brutal episode, but no less mesmerizing. The most unexpected, and horrifying, sequence is the orca, earning its "killer whale" nickname by capturing, killing, and tail-tossing a seal pup--a sequence so mysteriously primal that even the most seasoned marine biologist will be utterly amazed. One of the finest wildlife programs you're ever likely to see, "The Blue Planet: Seas of Life" provides the privilege of visiting a truly alien world teeming with the rarest wonders of nature. The series was recut into the feature-length "Deep Blue" in 2005. "--Jeff Shannon"

Boston Legal - Season 3

Director:
Starring: Boston Legal
Genre: Drama
Studio: 20th Century Fox Rated: NR
Language (Country): Spanish, English ()
Summary: This is simply the best television show ever. The cast, the plots, and the outcomes give us stuff to meditate on. I sincerely hope that the excellent writing and acting continue and that Boston Legal will be around for at least 10 more seasons.

Burden of Dreams - Criterion Collection

Director: Les Blank
Starring: Miguel Ángel Fuentes, José Lewgoy, Alfredo De Rio Tambo, Father Mariano Gagnon, Ángela Reina
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Criterion Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: For nearly five years, acclaimed German filmmaker Werner Herzog desperately tried to complete the most ambitious and difficult film of his career-Fitzcarraldo, the story of one man's attempt to build an opera house deep in the Amazon jungle. Documentary filmmaker Les Blank captured the unfolding of this production, made all the more perilous by Herzog's determination to shoot the most daunting scenes without models or special effects, including a sequence requiring hundreds of natives to pull a full-sized, 320-ton steamship over a small mountain. The result is an extraordinary document of the filmmaking process and a unique look into the single-minded passion of one of cinema#s most fearless directors.

Charley Boorman-Race to Dakar

Director:
Starring: Charley Boorman-Race to Dakar
Genre: Drama
Studio: Rated:
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: I got this for Christmas and was quite excited. I've watched LONG WAY'ROUND several times and was excited to see essentially the same crew tackle the world's most notorious endurance race. I was not let down.

If you saw LWR, the formula is similar, starting with planning, prep, bike prep and all the joys that go along with it. My heart goes out to Charley with the weight issue. I suffer from the same thing: spend all day working out and still carry a gut. Anyways, without giving away all the fun parts, it's exciting with some humor.

Race footage is good, not great. I feel some great items are only glanced at, while some not so exciting bits are extended too much.

The real issue is the language. The "f-bomb" is dropped so much it becomes a bit uncomfortable (and I routinely ride with ex-1%ers). I can only imagine the broadcast version of this was edited to death in areas.

In all, I do recommend RACE to DAKAR, but not for anyone under 18 years of age.

Chris Rock - Bring The Pain

Director: Keith Truesdell
Starring: Chris Rock, Davida Williams, Monteria Ivey, Tony Rock (II)
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Dreamworks Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: This guy is funny,smart and he has balls! This is his funniest special,but they are all good and worth checking out. This DVD has some amusing extras.

City of God

Director: Kátia Lund, Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Alexandre Rodrigues, Leandro Firmino, Phellipe Haagensen, Douglas Silva, Jonathan Haagensen
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Miramax Films Rated: R
Language (Country): Portuguese ()
Summary: Like cinematic dynamite, "City of God" lights a fuse under its squalid Brazilian ghetto, and we're a captive audience to its violent explosion. The titular "favela" is home to a seething army of impoverished children who grow, over the film's ambitious 20-year timeframe, into cutthroat killers, drug lords, and feral survivors. In the vortex of this maelstrom is L'il Z (Leandro Firmino da Hora--like most of the cast, a nonprofessional actor), self-appointed king of the dealers, determined to eliminate all competition at the expense of his corrupted soul. With enough visual vitality and provocative substance to spark heated debate (and box-office gold) in Brazil, codirectors Fernando Meirelles and Kátia Lund tackle their subject head on, creating a portrait of youthful anarchy so appalling--and so authentically immediate--that "City of God" prompted reforms in socioeconomic policy. It's a bracing feat of stylistic audacity, borrowing from a dozen other films to form its own unique identity. You'll flinch, but you can't look away. "--Jeff Shannon"

Civilisation: The Complete Series

Director: Michael Gill, Peter Montagnon
Starring: Kenneth Clark
Genre: Documentary
Studio: BBC Warner Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: "Civilisation, A Personal View by Lord Clark", may be the definitive documentary series of the past 50 years. Aired in 1969, this ambitious British undertaking which spanned an "80,000 mile journey visiting 13 countries, 117 locations, 18 libraries, and 118 museums," not only reconfigured the public view of documentary style, but also cemented BBC Two and its new Controller, David Attenborough, in history. In watching this thirteen-episode series, one clearly sees how Attenborough, as well as narrator Kenneth Clark, pioneered the direct-gaze speaking style of the narrator along with the concept of placing the narrator in the setting he refers to. In episode one, "The Skin of Our Teeth", Clark stands in front of Notre Dame to question first, if civilization worth preserving, and secondly, what the difference between art and culture is. Heavy. In subsequent episodes, cultural history is viewed through an art historical lens. Especially wonderful is "The Worship of Nature", discussing 18th century England's obsession with landscape painting in relation to religious beliefs of the period. Deep philosophy colors each 50-minute segment. This DVD set includes an interview with Attenborough. Undeniably educational, "Civilisation" feels eternally significant, and improves with repeated viewing. "--Trinie Dalton"

Coffret Studio Canal Classique 2 DVD : Le Testament du docteur cordelier / Déjeuner sur l'herbe

Director: Jean Renoir
Starring: Jean-Louis Barrault, Jean Topart, Michel Vitold, Teddy Bilis, Paul Meurisse
Genre: Drame et Émotion
Studio: Universal Music Rated:
Language (Country): ()
Summary:

Contempt - Criterion Collection

Director:
Starring: Brigitte Bardot, Raoul Coutard, Fritz Lang, Giorgia Moll, Jack Palance
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): English, French ()
Summary: With his aptly titled "Contempt", Jean-Luc Godard embraced the widescreen splendor of Hollywood while thumbing his nose at Hollywood itself. A rebel with a cause, Godard pursues an iconoclast's agenda, using the Franscope format (expertly controlled by cinematographer Raoul Coutard) to undermine the grandeur of widescreen melodramas. The story ostensibly concerns an innovative production of Homer's "Odyssey" and the struggle of a respected screenwriter (Michel Piccoli) to please a pugnacious producer (Jack Palance), a veteran director (Fritz Lang, essentially playing himself), and a petulant wife (Brigitte Bardot) who's grown tired of their turbulent relationship. It's all pretense, however, for Godard's mischievous (and yes, contemptuous) deconstruction of commercial Hollywood filmmaking, potently infused with film-buff in-jokes, astute observations about love, stardom, and artistry, and enough glossy style to suggest that Godard had mastered the craft he so willfully rejects. "Contempt" is one of his most accessibly fascinating films. "--Jeff Shannon"

The Contract

Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: John Cusack, Morgan Freeman, Cory Hardrict, Doug Dearth, Lonny W. Waddle
Genre: Action & Adventure
Studio: FIRST LOOK PICTURES Rated: R
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: The only thing standing between an assassin and his target is a father who must protect his son.

While on a hiking trip to reconnect with his son after the death of his wife, Ray Keene (John Cusack) stumbles into a nightmare scenario of paid assassins and ex-military guns-for-hire. Frank Cardin (Morgan Freeman) is attempting to fulfill a contract to assassinate a high profile businessman when things go arwy and he ends up in the custody of the U.S. Marshalls. After an ill-fated attempt by his compatriots to free him Frank finds himself in the custody of ex-lawman Ray and his son (Jamie Anderson). As the trio tries to make their way back to civilization they are relentlessly pursued by Frank's friends who are intent on freeing their leader in order to collect on the contract. But one pursuer may be more foe than friend.

Creature Comforts - The Complete First and Second Seasons

Director: Nick Park, Richard Goleszowski
Starring: The Great British Public
Genre: Kids & Family
Studio: Sony Pictures Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: " Creature Comforts " is a brilliant and hilarious clay animation series about the lives of animals as told by the animals themselves. Interviews with these lovable claymation creatures leave no stone unturned, no tree unclimbed, no sea uncrossed in the quest to discover what our fine-finned, furred and feathered friends really think about the issues that are closest to their hearts. It's a "mockumentary" like none you've ever seen, and it could only come from Nick Park and the untamed minds at Aardman Animation.

Days of Heaven - Criterion Collection

Director: Terrence Malick
Starring: Richard Gere, Brooke Adams, Sam Shepard
Genre: Drama
Studio: Criterion Rated: PG
Language (Country): English, Italian ()
Summary: One-of-a-kind filmmaker-philosopher Terrence Malick has created some of the most visually arresting movies of the twentieth century, and his glorious period tragedy Days of Heaven, featuring Oscar-winning cinematography by Nestor Almendros, stands out among them. In 1910, a Chicago steel worker (Richard Gere) accidentally kills his supervisor and flees to the Texas panhandle with his girlfriend (Brooke Adams) and little sister (Linda Manz) to work harvesting wheat in the fields of a stoic farmer (Sam Shepard). A love triangle, a swarm of locusts, a hellish fire—Malick captures it all with dreamlike authenticity, creating at once a timeless American idyll and a gritty evocation of turn-of-the-century labor.

Delirious

Director: Tom DiCillo
Starring: Tom Aldredge, Steve Buscemi, Kevin Corrigan, Gina Gershon, Elvis Costello
Genre: Comedy
Studio: Genius Products (TVN) Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Les (Steve Buscemi) is a small-time paparazzi with dreams of getting his embarrassingly funny photos on the front page. His luck seems to take a turn for the better when he befriends a clueless young homeless man, Toby (Michael Pitt), and makes him his unlikely assistant. But when Toby falls for a pop diva and becomes a reality TV star, Les has a tough time being pushed out of the frame and creates a devilish scheme to take down his apprentice. DVD Extras include: a Stalking Delirious Featurette, Promotional Shorts, Director s Commentary, Shove It Music Video, and the Theatrical Trailer

Deux hommes dans Manhattan

Director: Jean-Pierre Melville
Starring: Pierre Grasset, Christiane Eudes, Jean-Pierre Melville, Ginger Hall, Colette Fleury
Genre: Thriller
Studio: Alter Rated:
Language (Country): (France)
Summary:

The Devil & Daniel Webster - Criterion Collection

Director: William Dieterle
Starring: Edward Arnold, Walter Huston, Jane Darwell, Simone Simon, Gene Lockhart
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Stephen Vincent Benet's timeless 1937 short story gets the red-carpet treatment on Criterion's feature-packed DVD of "The Devil & Daniel Webster". William Dieterle's inspired film remains the classic it always was, proving that "Citizen Kane" wasn't the only cinematic marvel to appear in 1941. It's a sturdy, stylish rendition of Benet's original narrative, beginning when a luckless farmer (James Craig) strikes a Faustian bargain with the devil incarnate Mr. Scratch (Walter Huston at his devious best), trading his soul for seven years of prosperity, during which he grows corrupted, despised, and regretful of his mistake. To Scratch's chagrin, legendary orator Daniel Webster (Edward Arnold) intervenes with a triumphant defense, and Dieterle's brilliant direction gives the proceedings a light, economical touch of supernatural mischief.
To complement the cleverness of the film adaptation, this delightful DVD also includes a playfully expressive reading of Benet's original story by Alec Baldwin, and vintage radio performances of two of Benet's three "Daniel Webster" stories. The film and radio plays were scored by legendary composer Bernard Herrmann, whose Oscar®-winning film score is examined in an interactive essay by Herrmann expert Christopher Husted. Excerpts from an earlier preview version of the film (then titled "Here Is a Man") reveal creepy, negative-image shock-shots of Mr. Scratch that were later removed, but they further demonstrate Dieterle's willingness to experiment. With additional essays and archival materials, Criterion's superb DVD shows how a great story can lend itself, with consistent success, to a variety of mediums. "--Jeff Shannon"

Downfall

Director: Oliver Hirschbiegel
Starring: Bruno Ganz, Alexandra Maria Lara, Corinna Harfouch, Ulrich Matthes, Juliane Köhler
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Sony Pictures Rated: R
Language (Country): German, Russian ()
Summary: The riveting subject of "Downfall" is nothing less than the disintegration of Adolf Hitler in mind, body, and soul. A 2005 Academy Award nominee for best foreign language film, this German historical drama stars Bruno Ganz ("Wings of Desire") as Hitler, whose psychic meltdown is depicted in sobering detail, suggesting a fallen, pathetic dictator on the verge on insanity, resorting to suicide (along with Eva Braun and Joseph and Magda Goebbels) as his Nazi empire burns amidst chaos in mid-1945. While staging most of the film in the claustrophobic bunker where Hitler spent his final days, director Oliver Hirschbiegel ("Das Experiment") dares to show the gentler human side of "der Fuehrer", as opposed to the pure embodiment of evil so familiar from many other Nazi-era dramas. This balanced portrayal does not inspire sympathy, however: We simply see the complexity of Hitler's character in the greater context of his inevitable downfall, and a more realistic (and therefore more horrifying) biographical portrait of madness on both epic and intimate scales. By ending with a chilling clip from the 2002 documentary "Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary", this unforgettable film gains another dimension of sobering authenticity. "--Jeff Shannon"

Elevator to the Gallows - Criterion Collection

Director: Louis Malle
Starring: Jeanne Moreau, Maurice Ronet, Georges Poujouly, Yori Bertin, Jean Wall
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): French ()
Summary: "Elevator to the Gallows" is many things: A tight, delicious crime thriller; the debut of director Louis Malle ("Zazie dans le metro", "Atlantic City", "Au Revoir, Les Enfants", and many more works of subtle genius); a movie with perhaps the greatest jazz soundtrack of all time, created improvisationally by trumpeter Miles Davis; but above all, "Elevator to the Gallows" is the blooming of Jeanne Moreau to the status of true movie star, launching her on a career that included "Jules & Jim", "La notte", and "La Femme Nikita". After killing his lover's husband, Julien (Maurice Ronet, "Purple Noon") gets trapped in an elevator, forcing him to miss his rendezvous with Florence (Moreau) and allowing his car to be stolen by a joy-riding young couple. From there, the movie splits into three directions: Julien's efforts to escape; Florence wandering the streets, trying not to believe that Julien has abandoned her; and the car thieves, who get caught up in a murder of their own. The movie skillfully fuses Hitchcockian suspense with intimate psychodrama. As she stalks through the night, Moreau is a vision of tortured heartbreak, her woeful eyes and lush, sensuous lips illuminated by neon signs and baleful streetlamps. This is pure cinematic pleasure, visual beauty fused with taut, edge-of-your-seat storytelling.

Encounters at the End of the World

Director: Werner Herzog
Starring:
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Discovery Films Rated:
Language (Country): (USA)
Summary:

Ewan McGregor And Charley Boorman - Long Way Round

Director:
Starring: Ewan McGregor, Charley Boorman
Genre: Television
Studio: EMI Rated: Exempt
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: "Long Way Round" is a documentary detailing the 20,000-mile motorcycle trip Ewan McGregor took around the world with best friend Charley Boorman over 115 days. Their trip took them from London through locales such as Kazakhstan, Mongolia, Siberia, and Canada, to name a few, before ending in New York.
Armed with a cameraman, McGregor and Boorman encounter separation anxiety from their families; a shifty stranger (later revealed to be Mafia) who leads them through winding dark corridors to a posh hotel room; delays at international borders; hosts who offer them animal parts for dinner; injuries, equipment breakdowns, and more.
The pair also film their own video diaries, in which they voice concerns and frustrations. The result is an emotional, rich breadth of experiences, from the hardship of logistical setbacks paired with the joy of visiting the children of Chernobyl and encountering hospitable locals who insist on escorting them wherever they go. McGregor and Boorman also make witty emcees, cheerfully upbeat even when they wonder aloud if one of their gun-happy hosts is a psycho murderer. The seven-episode series concludes with their emotional ride into the Big Apple and some surprises for the pair courtesy of the show's producers.
"Long Way Round" may have been an arduous once-in-a-lifetime experience, but you can't help but hope McGregor and Boorman suit up for another road trip someday. -- "Ellen A. Kim"

Family Guy, Vol. 1

Director:
Starring: Family Guy
Genre: Television
Studio: 20th Century Fox Rated: NR
Language (Country): English, French, Spanish ()
Summary: To the ranks of shows too brilliant and outrageous for prime time ("The Ben Stiller Show", "Andy Richter Controls the Universe"), add Seth McFarland's "Family Guy". This animated series, which debuted after the 1999 Super Bowl, simply sparked too much controversy and offended too many sensibilities to survive ("Entertainment Weekly" dubbed it "the Awful Show They Just Keep Putting on the Air"). That the Fox network also played hackysack with its schedule, ensuring viewers would not be able to find it, sealed its fate (it was cancelled in 2002). This boxed set containing all 28 episodes from the first two seasons is payback for the show's devoted cult following, who may be moved to echo the words of infant Stewie Griffin, the megalomaniacal 1-year-old bent on matricide and world domination: "Victory is mine!"
The dysfunctional Griffins of Quahog, Rhode Island, invite comparisons to "The Simpsons". The testicular-chinned father, Peter Griffin, is a clueless oaf in the Homer mold. "Peter, what did you promise me last night?" asks his long-suffering wife Lois in one episode. "That I wouldn't drink at the stag party," he replies. "And what did you do?" she asks. "Drank at the stag part--oh ho ho, I almost walked into that one," he cackles. Other family members include teenage daughter Meg, a desperate high school social pariah; 13-year-old son Chris, a chip off his father's blockhead; and Brian, the family's sarcastic talking dog. But this series' true inspiration is football-pated Stewie (voiced by McFarlane, who earned an Emmy), who was born to be a Bond villain once he escaped his mother's "ovarian bastille." "Family Guy" recklessly ventured where "The Simpsons" feared to tread. In one episode, Meg's one and only friend turns out to be the member of a suicidal cult. In another, Death (voiced by Norm McDonald) becomes an unwanted houseguest. Each episode plays fast and furious with surreal flashes (in one episode, Peter turns his house into a puppet) and pop-culture references and TV, movie, and commercial parodies that invite repeated viewings. Freed from its own family-hour bastille and the whims of dim network executives, "Family Guy" can be appreciated at last on its own profane, sacrilegious, and irreverent terms. Welcome to the DVD family, Griffins. "--Donald Liebenson"

Fanny and Alexander

Director: Ingmar Bergman
Starring:
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Rated: R
Language (Country): English, German, Swedish, Yiddish ()
Summary: Through the wide eyes of ten-year-old Alexander (Bertil Guve), we witness the great delights and conflicts of the Ekdahl family—a sprawling, convivial bourgeois clan living in turn-of-the-century Sweden. Intended as Ingmar Bergman's swan song, "Fanny and Alexander" ("Fanny och Alexander") is the legendary filmmaker's warmest and most autobiographical film, a triumph that combines his trademark melancholy and emotional rigor with immense joyfulness and sensuality. The Criterion Collection is proud to present not only the theatrical version—winner of the 1984 Academy Award® for Best Foreign Language Film—but also, for the first time on home video in the U.S., the original five-hour television version, together in a single boxed set. Also included is Bergman's own feature-length documentary "The Making of Fanny and Alexander" ("Dokument Fanny och Alexander"), offering a unique glimpse into his creative process and a candid behind-the-scenes look at a monumental film in the making. INCLUDED WITH "FANNY AND ALEXANDER", FOR THE FIRST TIME ON DVD: "THE MAKING OF FANNY AND ALEXANDER" "The Making of Fanny and Alexander" is a fascinating look at the creation of a masterpiece. Directed by Ingmar Bergman himself, this feature-length documentary chronicles the methods of one of cinema's true luminaries as he labors to realize his crowning production. Featuring Bergman at work with many of his longtime collaborators—including cinematographer Sven Nykvist and actors Erland Josephson, Gunnar Björnstrand, and Harriet Andersson—"The Making of Fanny and Alexander" is a witty and revealing portrait of a virtuoso filmmaker.

Fawlty Towers - The Complete Series

Director:
Starring: Fawlty Towers
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: BBC Warner Rated: NR
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Inspired by a hotel John Cleese once stayed in when he was filming "Monty Python." This complete set of Fawlty Towers episodes includes special new commentary by John Cleese. Please see individual volumes for episode descriptions.

The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky

Director: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Starring: Alejandro Jodorowsky
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Starz / Anchor Bay Rated: R
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: How can so much mysticism be contained in a simple DVD box set? "The Films of Alejandro Jodorowsky" is a divine collection of the director's early films, restored and ready for repeated viewings. For it does take several viewings to imbue Jodorowky's invented archetypes with personal meaning and to familiarize oneself with his avant-garde approach to communicating artistic concepts. In this box, "El Topo" and "Holy Mountain", Jodorowsky's stories of spiritual journeys through barren deserts, are paired with "Fando Y Lis" and "La Cravate", a never before seen gem from the 1950s. This alone justifies the box set. "La Cravate" is a Technicolor tale of a man whose sadistic girfriend urges him to visit the head shop to shop for a new head. Miming his way through rows of living human heads, and trying several on with the help of a shop manager skilled in stitching skin, this Frankensteinian story establishes Jodorowsky's affinity for pitting effusive love against cruelty for maximum tension between involved characters. "Fando Y Lis", on the other hand, is an early version of the later two masterpieces, about a couple whose quest for an imaginary land in the future, called Tar, introduces them to wizened forest masters, wild packs of women bowling, and enlightened drag queens. Filmed in black and white, "Fando Y Lis" proves that Jodorowsky's radical use of color in "El Topo" and "Holy Mountain" is no simple trope. Here, he relies more heavily on dramatic physical action, including miming and a paraplegic protagonist who is wheeled around in a wagon by her lover.
The box set contains the film soundtracks, director commentaries, and several interviews with Jodorowsky, including the documentary, "La Constellation", in which he discusses his reliance on intuition, the notion of absurdism versus mystery, and his infamous usage of violence, which he eloquently explains as creative violence versus the destructive. Though this talented director refuses the claim that he is a mystic, it becomes clear in watching this body of work that he is achieving the sublime in a visually transcendental fashion. "--Trinie Dalton"

Firefly - The Complete Series

Director: Joss Whedon, Tim Minear, Vern Gillum
Starring: Nathan Fillion, Gina Torres, Alan Tudyk, Morena Baccarin, Adam Baldwin
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Studio: 20th Century Fox Rated: NR
Language (Country): English, Spanish ()
Summary: As the 2005 theatrical release of "Serenity" made clear, "Firefly" was a science fiction concept that deserved a second chance. Devoted fans (or "Browncoats") knew it all along, and with this well-packaged DVD set, those who missed the show's original broadcasts can see what they missed. Creator Joss Whedon's ambitious science-fiction Western (Whedon's third series after "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Angel") was canceled after only 11 of these 14 episodes had aired on the Fox network, but history has proven that its demise was woefully premature. Whedon's generic hybrid got off to a shaky start when network executives demanded an action-packed one-hour premiere ("The Train Job"); in hindsight the intended two-hour pilot (also titled "Serenity," and oddly enough, the final episode aired) provides a better introduction to the show's concept and splendid ensemble cast. Obsessive fans can debate the quirky logic of combining spaceships with direct parallels to frontier America (it's 500 years in the future, and embattled humankind has expanded into the galaxy, where undeveloped "outer rim" planets struggle with the equivalent of Old West accommodations), but Whedon and his gifted co-writers and directors make it work, at least well enough to fashion a credible context from the incongruous culture-clashing of past, present, and future technologies, along with a polyglot language (the result of two dominant superpowers) that combines English with an abundance of Chinese slang.
What makes it work is Whedon's delightfully well-chosen cast and their nine well-developed characters--a typically Whedon-esque extended family--each providing a unique perspective on their adventures aboard Serenity, the junky but beloved "Firefly-class" starship they call home. As a veteran of the disadvantaged Independent faction's war against the all-powerful planetary Alliance (think of it as Underdogs vs. Overlords), Serenity captain Malcolm Reynolds (Nathan Fillion) leads his compact crew on a quest for survival. They're renegades with an amoral agenda, taking any job that pays well, but "Firefly"'s complex tapestry of right and wrong (and peace vs. violence) is richer and deeper than it first appears. Tantalizing clues about Blue Sun (an insidious mega-corporation with a mysteriously evil agenda), its ties to the Alliance, and the traumatizing use of Serenity's resident stowaway (Summer Glau) as a guinea pig in the development of advanced warfare were clear indications "Firefly" was heading for exciting revelations that were precluded by the series' cancellation. Fortunately, the big-screen "Serenity" (which can be enjoyed independently of the series) ensured that Whedon's wild extraterrestrial west had not seen its final sunset. Its very existence confirms that these 14 episodes (and enjoyable bonus features) will endure as irrefutable proof Fox made a glaring mistake in canceling the series. --"Jeff Shannon"

The Fog of War - Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara

Director:
Starring: Barry Goldwater, Lyndon Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Curtis LeMay
Genre: Documentary
Studio: Sony Pictures Rated: PG-13
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: "The Fog of War", the movie that finally won Errol Morris the best documentary Oscar, is a spellbinder. Morris interviews Robert McNamara, Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy and Johnson administrations, and finds a uniquely unsettling viewpoint on much of 20th-century American history. Employing a ton of archival material, including LBJ's fascinating taped conversations from the Oval Office, Morris probes the reasons behind the U.S. commitment to the Vietnam War--and finds a depressingly inconsistent policy. McNamara himself emerges as--well, not exactly apologetic, but clearly haunted by the what-ifs of Vietnam. He also mulls the bombing of Japan in World War II and the Cuban Missile Crisis, raising more questions than he answers. "The Fog of War" has the usual inexorable Morris momentum, aided by an uneasy Philip Glass score. This movie provides a glimpse inside government. It also encourages skepticism about same. "--Robert Horton"

Great Adaptations - Criterion Collection

Director: David Lean, Ernest B. Schoedsack, Irving Pichel
Starring: John Mills, Tony Wager, Valerie Hobson, Jean Simmons, Bernard Miles
Genre: Classics
Studio: Criterion Rated: PG
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: "Great Expectations": One of the great translations of literature into film, David Lean’s, "Great Expectations" brings Charles Dickens’ masterpiece to robust onscreen life. Pip, Magwitch, Miss Havisham, and Estella populate Lean’s magnificent miniature, beautifully photographed by Guy Green and designed by John Bryan. "Lord of the Flies": "Lord of the Flies" is famed theater director Peter Brook’s daring translation of William Golding’s brilliant novel. The story of 30 English schoolboys stranded on an uncharted island at the start of the "next" war, "Lord of the Flies" is a seminal film of the New American Cinema and a fascinating anti-Hollywood experiment in location filmmaking. As the cast relived Golding’s frightening fable, Brook found the cinematic "evidence" of the author’s terrifying thesis: there is a beast in us all. "The Most Dangerous Game": "One of the best and most literate movies from the great days of horror," "The Most Dangerous Game" stars Leslie Banks as a big game hunter with a taste for the world’s most exotic prey—his houseguests, played by Fay Wray and Joel McCrea. Before making history with 1933’s King Kong, filmmakers Merian C. Cooper and Ernest B. Schoedsack wowed audiences with their chilling adaptation of this Richard Connell short story. Criterion is proud to present the DVD premiere of "The Most Dangerous Game" in a new digital transfer. "Oliver Twist": Expressionistic noir photography suffuses David Lean’s "Oliver Twist" with a nightmarish quality, fitting its bleak, industrial setting. In Dickens’ classic tale, an orphan wends his way from cruel apprenticeship to den of thieves in search of a true home.

Grey Gardens / The Beales of Grey Gardens - Criterion Collection

Director: Albert Maysles, David Maysles, Ellen Hovde, Muffie Meyer
Starring: Edie Beale, Edith Bouvier Beale
Genre: Drama
Studio: Criterion Rated: PG
Language (Country): English ()
Summary: Although it's typically described as a cult phenomenon, "Grey Gardens" is something more than that by now. The 1975 documentary by brothers Albert and David Maysles (who filmed the proceedings and co-directed with Muffie Meyer and Ellen Hovde) has been turned into a hit Broadway show, with plans for a feature film in the offing; it's also the title of a song by Rufus Wainwright, and has been referenced on TV shows like "The Gilmore Girls", "The L Word", and even "Rugrats". In the process, "Grey Gardens" has become part of the cultural zeitgeist, at least in the gay community, a circumstance that no doubt had some influence on the decision to package it with "The Beales of Grey Gardens", a 90-minute assemblage of outtakes and other unused material from the original film supervised by Albert Maysles and released in 2006.
One wonders if any of this would have transpired had Edith Ewing Bouvier (known as "Big Edie") and daughter Edith Bouvier Beale ("Little Edie") merely been garden variety eccentrics, instead of quasi-celebrities (the aunt and cousin, respectively, of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, "nee" Bouvier). On the other hand, there's a certain can't-turn-away-from-a-car-accident fascination that comes with watching the two Edies at home in their rundown, squalid East Hampton, Long Island estate (they were ordered to fix the place up before the documentary was shot, but it's still a dump, albeit a large one). With her endless parade of different "costumes," every one of them featuring a scarf, a towel, or some such material wrapped around her head (then in her mid-fifties, she had an oddball fashion sense that's a big part of her now-iconic status), Little Edie is quite a character. Considerably less appealing is her mother, a bitter, poisonous woman who apparently pressured her daughter to move back home and care for her after Big Edie's husband quite understandably abandoned her in the early 1950s. "My whole life, I've been ground down and insulted every minute," Little Edie confides to the camera, but she gives as good as she gets; the two of them squabble endlessly, mostly about past events and the careers they might have had (Big Edie as a singer, her daughter as a dancer and model). There are obviously many viewers who find this sort of terminal dysfunction appealing, even charming. For others, words like annoying and tedious may be more appropriate. And while "The Beales of Grey Gardens" offers more evidence that the two women actually cared for one another (there's also a good deal more interaction between the Beales and the filmmakers, along with various other visitors), it's essentially just more of the same. "--Sam Graham"

Hiroshima Mon Amour - Criterion Collection

Director: Alain Resnais
Starring: Emmanuelle Riva, Eiji Okada, Stella Dassas, Pierre Barbaud, Bernard Fresson
Genre: Art House & International
Studio: Criterion Rated: Unrated
Language (Country): French ()
Summary: An extraordinary and deeply moving film that retains much of its power since its original release in 1959, Alain Resnais's "Hiroshima, Mon Amour" is the story of a French woman (Emmanuelle Riva) and a Japanese man (Eiji Okada) who become lovers in the city of Hiroshima, where the U.S. dropped a nuclear bomb to end World War II in the Pacific. Written by Marguerite Duras and juggled, as if by wandering thoughts, in chronology and setting by Resnais, the film reveals the miserable and mortifying experiences of each character during the war and suggests the obvious healing properties of their relationship in the present. An emotional allusion or two can certainly be made with the more recent "The English Patient", but nothing can quite prepare one for Resnais's extreme yet intuitively accessible experiments in fusing the past, present, and future into great sweeps of subjectively experienced memory. Yet audiences have never had trouble relating to this bold milestone of the French New Wave, largely because at its heart is a genuinely affecting, soulful love story. "--Tom Keogh"

House of Sand and Fog